Pumpkin Carving
by shopgirl152
Summary: It's tough carving a pumpkin when you're refraining from doing magic; but with a little help from your girlfriend and friends, anything is possible. Willow/Tara. one-shot


"Can't I just use a little one?"

"No."

"Not even a little teeny, weeny, itsy bitsy self-carving spell?"

"No." Tara smiled gently. "Willow, you promised not to use magic for simple things anymore; this is going to help you."

"But…it-it's going to take so long to carve, you know?"

Tara walked behind Willow, wrapping her in a warm hug. She kissed her neck softly. "I know it is sweetie, but just think; you'll have carved it all by yourself, without magic. And that's a little step; one day at a time, remember?"

Willow sighed, turning around to face Tara. "Okay." She kissed her softly on the lips before turning back around, glaring at the kitchen counter. "Alright pumpkin; lucky for you, I'm not going to use magic. Consider yourself saved." She wriggled out of Tara's embrace, walking over to the counter, picking up the carving knife. She smirked. "As for natural carving? Well, that's another story…"

Tara chuckled. "That's my girl."

* * *

Willow wrinkled her nose in disgust as she dug orange guts and seeds out of the pumpkin. "Ugh. This is disgusting. I mean, I've seen dead bodies before and vampires being staked and everything, but…I think this is making me a little squeamish."

"Here, let me do it." Tara pulled the pumpkin to her, digging her arms deep into it. She hauled the orange strings and seeds out, making sure to separate them.

"Uh, Baby? What are you doing?"

"Oh. I'm-I'm saving the seeds. Roasted pumpkin seeds are my favorite Halloween treat. They're-they're really good. Especially with salt."

"Really?" Willow smiled. "Sounds yummy."

"Oh, they are. They are very yummy."

"You know…I could put the seeds in the oven and you could tell me how to cook them."

"Nope. I'll take care of the cooking; you take care of the carving." Tara passed the pumpkin back to Willow. "It's all gutted; now you get to carve."

"Do I really have to do it like a normal person?"

Tara chuckled. "Yes, sweetie, you do. This is a good thing, remember?"

"Tell that to the disemboweled pumpkin."

Tara laughed as she walked to the sink to wash to her hands. "It's not so bad Willow; you'll get the hang of it. Just…trust yourself. It's time to let go of the security blanket." Tara wiped her hands on a dishtowel, then walked over to Willow, hugging her from behind. "Besides, I'm here. I won't let the big bad pumpkin get you."

"Oh thanks. I feel so much better."

Tara laughed. "You're fine sweetie; now, let's carve this pumpkin."

* * *

Willow sat down at the counter, a piece of paper and a pen in front of her. She studied the pumpkin intently. "Okay, Mr. Pumpkin, you need a face." She sketched on a piece of paper, holding it up to the light. "There, that looks about right." She placed the paper on the pumpkin, lightly sketching the design onto it. She grinned. "Look at me; I'm carving a pumpkin; this isn't so bad. What was I worried about?" Still grinning, she picked the knife up from the counter, poking it into the pumpkin.

Tara walked into the kitchen; she grinned when she saw Willow. "Wow, look at you."

"I'm carving a pumpkin." Willow beamed.

"See Willow? I told you you could do it."

"You know what? You're right, I can do it and it feels…" She trailed off, attempting to dislodge the knife. "It feels…well my confidence would be better if the knife actually _came out_ of the pumpkin." She pulled harder, but the knife wouldn't budge. "Tara…"

Tara chuckled softly. "Here. It does that sometimes." She walked over, firmly grasping the knife by the handle, attempting to pull. It wouldn't budge. She wriggled it up and down, then pulled. Still nothing. "Wow. This-this is really stuck."

"Oooo…can we use an un-stuck spell?" Willow tried eagerly.

"_No_."

Willow laughed at the tone in Tara's voice. "Hey, can't blame a witch for tryin."

"Okay, put your hand on mine and on the count of three, we'll both pull. The knife should come out."

"Okay." Willow walked over to Tara, grasping Tara's hand as it held the knife. She smiled. "This feels nice."

Tara grinned. "Yes, it does." She looked back to the knife. "But…back to business."

"Right." Willow paused, thinking. "Isn't it nice that after being together this long, we still have these moments with each other?"

"Yes." Tara beamed. "But, seriously Willow, we need to get this knife out. On the count of three. One…two…three!" On the count of three, both girls pulled as hard as they could. The knife came out, flying over Tara's head, landing in the wall. She turned around. "Oh. That's-that's not good."

"What's not good baby? I mean, we pulled the knife out…oh." Willow's eyes went wide as she turned around, noticing the knife in the wall. She walked over, pulling it out with a _thuck_ sound. She studied the hole. "It-it doesn't look to bad; it's not like we haven't put things through the wall in this house before." She paused. "Just…don't tell Xander; he'll give us a lesson on spackling holes."

"Don't tell Xander. Right." Tara giggled. "That was kind of funny though, wasn't it?"

Willow laughed. "Yeah, it was."

"Hey guys, what's…" Dawn walked into the kitchen, trailing off as she noticed a hole in the wall and Willow holding a knife. "Heh; you're holding a knife. Should I be worried? I mean, we didn't get attacked, did we?"

"Oh. Uh…hey Dawnie. No, no attacks; just the attack of a thrown knife." Willow smirked, causing Tara to burst out laughing.

"Ookkaayy…maybe this is one of those things I shouldn't see. I'm going upstairs to do homework."

Tara recovered herself from laughing. "It's fine Dawn; we were just carving a pumpkin. Se—oh. That doesn't look right."

"What doesn't look right?" Willow walked over to stand beside Tara. Her eyes went wide. "That's not how it's supposed to look." Right where the knife had been thrust out, was a huge gash going from the top of the pumpkin's left eye all the way to the top.

Dawn walked over, surveying the pumpkin. She tilted her head to the side. "It doesn't look that bad. I mean…it seems kind of appropriate. For one of _our_ pumpkins anyway."

"But-but—"Willow broke off, crying into Tara's shoulder. "It's not supposed to look like that! I wanted a pretty, happy pumpkin, but now it looks ugly!" She cried harder.

Tara gently rubbed Willow's back, speaking in soothing tones. "There, there. Shhh Baby; its okay. It's not ruined—"

"Yes it is!"

Dawn walked over, standing next to Willow. She put a hand on her shoulder. "Willow, it's not that bad; it adds character." But Willow only cried harder. Dawn took her hand away. "I'll think I'll go do my homework now." She turned around, entering the living room. She had one foot on the stairs when she suddenly noticed the pumpkin Xander and Anya had brought over the day before. She smiled, hopping down the stairs and bounding back into the kitchen. "Tara, I have an idea."

* * *

An hour later, there was another pumpkin sitting on the counter, one with an identical gash from the top of it's left eye all the way to the top. Dawn stood back, admiring her work. "So, what do you think? Does it look identical?"

Willow studied the two pumpkins. "They look exactly alike" She smiled. "Thanks Dawnie; I feel much better now."

Dawn smiled. "No big deal. And hey, it seems to match the house, in a way."

Willow laughed. "So, where'd you get the pumpkin?"

"Oh, Xander and Anya dropped it off a couple days ago; Anya said something about it not working. As in, it doesn't fight off evil very well on Halloween. Which I guess is true. For Sunnydale anyway."

"Hey guys, what's going on?" Buffy walked into the kitchen, carrying a very large pumpkin. She grunted as she set it down on the counter. She wrinkled her nose. "Ugh; I smell like doublemeat." She walked around to the other side of the counter, giving Dawn a hug. She stared at the already carved pumpkins in front of her. "Those pumpkins are…interesting."

"Oh yeah. It's Willow's first time carving a pumpkin without magic. She was going good until the knife got stuck and her and Tara pulled the knife out."

"It kind of got stuck in the wall," Willow offered.

Buffy crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow as she studied the hole in the wall. "It's not to bad; we've had worse holes. Just don't tell Xander; I can't take anymore spackling lectures." The four girls laughed.

"Anyway, Willow was sad because when they pulled the knife out—"

"We kind of created the gash," interrupted Tara.

"So to make Willow feel better, I grabbed the pumpkin Anya and Xander dropped off two days ago and created an identical twin for it. Now they're identical, and…Willow feels better."

"Yep. All better." Willow grinned.

"There's only one thing missing…" Dawn walked over to the counter, grabbing the knife and holding it out to Buffy. "A triplet."

Buffy smiled, taking the knife from Dawn. "Why not?"

* * *

A half hour later, the three pumpkins were lined up in the window, candles burning brightly in all three. Buffy held the front door open, turning off the house lights as she ushered the others outside. "Okay, everybody ready?"

"We're ready Buffy," said Willow excitedly.

"Okay." Buffy closed the front door, joining her friends in the front yard. In the window, the three pumpkins smiled cheerfully, all three with an identical gash mark on their faces.

Tara gently took Willow's hand, interlacing her fingers with her own. She leaned her head on Willow's shoulder, whispering into her ear. "I'm so proud of you Willow; you carved a pumpkin all by yourself, without magic." She grinned. "I am so proud of you."

Willow kissed the top of Tara's head gently. "You know what? I'm proud of me too." She smiled. "And thanks to Dawnie, my pumpkin's not lonely." She pulled Dawn into a hug. "Thanks Dawnie."

Dawn smiled, resting her head on Willow's other shoulder. "You're welcome; glad I could help."

Buffy stared at the pumpkins, her arms crossed. She looked down at her feet, then snapped her head up when she held Willow speak her name.

"Come on Buffy, get in here; you're part of this too." Buffy smiled weakly, walking next to Dawn, laying her head on her shoulder.

For a long time, the four girls just stood there, gazing at the pumpkins on the windowsill. And, as the candles burned low, they slowly made their way back into the house, leaving the pumpkins to glow cheerfully throughout the night.


End file.
